Haunting Memories
by shantella1987
Summary: Amy is lost in a marketplace and finds meets an interesting person from her past.


I wanted to write something with Amy in it ever since I met Karen Gillan last summer at Fan Expo. She's so cool!

DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Doctor Who.

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Amy was cross. And lost. So very lost. She had been following the Doctor through the vast alien marketplace, laughing along at his jokes and listening intently at his incessant babbling explanations of the cultural significance of some of the items they had on offer. She was really entranced by some Derimian silk scarves (their green-blue colour really complimented her red hair) and she picked one up to show the Doctor but when she turned to look for him he was gone. She rolled her eyes and sighed as she remembered his number one rule: Don't wander off. And there he was, ignoring his own rules.

Her eyes darted around the marketplace. Aliens of all shapes and sizes were mingling about and haggling prices, but none of them currently looked Human, er… Time Lord, she corrected herself. A frustrated sigh escaped her lips. He hadn't been gone that long. Maybe he was still within hearing distance?

"Doctor?" She called out. No response. "Doctor!" She shouted louder. Still nothing. "Blimey… where are you? DOCTOR!" This got a response, but just not the one she was expecting. A tall, thin man with (really great) unruly hair swirled around to look at her. His long coat took a moment longer to catch up to him he swung around so fast.

"Oh, hello!" He beamed at her, "Can I help?" Amy blinked at him in confusion. He appeared human. In addition to that long swishy coat, he wore clothes that were oddly reminiscent of what the Doctor first wore when she first met him: A chocolate brown suit with a light blue pinstripe, a sky blue shirt and white Converse trainers. All that was missing was that dark tie with light blue swirls and red accents. She blinked several times. It _had_ to be a coincidence. It just had to be! The only other alternative was just impossible.

"You alright?" He looked at her, a concerned look replacing his bright smile. Amy didn't realise she'd been staring.

"Erm… yeah. Fine. It's just that I've lost my friend, you see." Amy started by way of explanation. "It's just frustrating cos he's always all 'don't wander off!'," Amy dropped her Scottish burr and did her best impression of the Doctor's voice causing the man in front of her to laugh lightly, "And now he's wandered away! I swear he has the attention span of a goldfish…"

"Oh I know what that's like! It's like when you tell someone to stay still… well… it's almost like a compulsion for them to go and be somewhere else! And then off they go running headlong into danger. Doesn't help when you find someone who's just extremely jeopardy friendly! Well, let's just hope your friend isn't the same way. What's he look like?" The man asked her, as he began to survey the crowds before she could answer. Amy pondered on this question a moment.

"He looks human. About your height. Not quite as skinny. Floppy brown hair. Green eyes. Chin out to here!" Amy pointed several inches away from her own chin and giggled slightly. "Oh and he just insists on wearing this ridiculous bow tie."

"Come now, bow ties aren't that bad! Although I prefer a Windsor knot myself… the last time I wore a bow tie, well… things didn't go so well." The man kept surveying the crowd. Amy's mind drifted back to a memory of grabbing the Doctor by that tie and locking it in a car door to keep him from escaping.

 _Nope, still impossible._ She thought to herself as she busied herself on looking out at the crowd. Still no sign of the Doctor, but she caught sight of a blonde human girl about the same age as Amy walking towards them. She looked lost herself, but then she locked eyes with the man beside Amy and smiled brightly and marched straight for him and into his waiting arms. She suddenly felt a bit awkward watching the couple embrace, and he must've sensed it as he suddenly jumped back from whom Amy assumed was his girlfriend and settled on holding her hand instead. The blonde eyed the redhead almost suspiciously.

"Rose," He spoke to the newcomer, "I was just helping… um… sorry, what was your name?" He gestured to Amy realising he never did get around to asking her name.

"Amy. Amy Pond."

"Amy Pond. Lovely name! Anyways, I was just helping Amy here find her friend. Apparently he's another who disregards the whole 'don't wander off' thing. Seriously, why does no one ever get that?"

"I don't know, Doctor." Rose replied to the man standing next to her, elbowing him playfully in the ribs. Amy blinked in confusion again. _Did she just call him 'Doctor'?_

"Oh, by the way… I think you'll be wanting this back. That bloke got that stain out for ya!" Rose reached into the pocket of her jumper and pulled out a long strip of silk and Amy realised it was a necktie. And it wasn't just any necktie, it was the one worn by her raggedy Doctor! The one she slammed into the car door! But how?

"Oh brilliant!" He beamed at Rose as he swiftly took the tie and deftly tied it around his neck. Amy involuntarily gasped. If he had removed his coat and suit jacket he would look exactly like her raggedy doctor, just minus the raggedy… and that chin. All the pieces started falling into place. Things she never had context for before were suddenly started to make sense!

 _"I'm still cooking."_

 _"New mouth, new rules!"_

 _"Do I just have a face that no one listens to… again?"_

Amy knew the Doctor was an alien. Was he also a shape shifter? And if he was why would he insist on looking like a nine-year-old when he could look so (it took her a moment to come up with the right word) _hot_? She still needed confirmation.

"Doctor?" She pointed to the man in the pinstripes. He just smiled.

"Yup, that's me! Hello!" He gave her a little wave.

"Yeah… but… erm… how?! I mean, how can you be the Doctor?" Amy stammered.

"Well, it's quite simple really. Y'see I'm…"

"Amelia!" A very concerned voice cut through the crowd. Amy recognised it as the Doctor. _Her_ Doctor. She spun around and saw him, all floppy hair and bow tie.

"Over here!" She waived. He caught her eye and ran over.

"Where have you been?" Amy hit him hard on the shoulder. "I thought you said no wandering off! Didn't you say that, Doctor?" The bowtie wearing Doctor rubbed at his arm and started thinking up a witty retort, but then caught sight of the couple standing nearby and his face paled. Rose pointed at him and looked up at her Doctor.

"Is that… _you_?" She asked, her voice a mere whisper. The Doctor in pinstripes swallowed hard.

"Blimey, I hope not. Look at that chin! Amy's right, it's giant!" He winced. Amy's Doctor blinked, and then an annoyed look crossed his face.

"Oi! Watch it, _matchstick man_! At least it wasn't the ears all over again!" He growled at Rose's doctor. This comment elicited a giggle from Rose. He looked over at her. Oh how he missed that sound. It did his hearts good to see her again. He gave her a sad smile before he went over and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. She tensed up at first until he whispered "Yes, Rose. It's me." in her ear.

To Rose the hug was strange, yet familiar at the same time. She sensed the sadness in his voice, and could feel his desperation in his embrace. How long had it been since he saw her last? He'd obviously regenerated, but where was she? Why was he traveling with this Scottish girl instead of her? She felt the lingering fear creep into her mind that she spent weeks trying to ignore. Was the prophecy true? Was she really the valiant child who would die in battle so very soon?

"Okay… that's enough of that!" Rose felt her Doctor's hand on her shoulder and she was released the other Doctor's embrace. Much to her delight, her Doctor wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders, but he was still glaring at Amy's Doctor. Was he jealous of _himself_? Rose stifled a giggle.

"Right then, Amelia, we should be off!" The bow tie Doctor suddenly announced, then he fished his Sonic Screwdriver out of the pocket of his tweed jacket and pointed it at the other Doctor and Rose. "But first…" a bright green flash momentarily blinded Amy. She felt the Doctor grab her hand and she was pulled along through the crowd.

"What was that?" Amy cried at the Doctor.

"Memory wipe!" The Doctor called back. He said nothing else until they reached the TARDIS.

"Okay. Explain." Amy demanded as soon as they were back in the console room. "Why'd you wipe their memories? Your own memories?" She corrected herself. "And on top of that, are you a shape shifter or something?" The Doctor sank into one of the comfy chairs surrounding the main controls.

"I wiped their memories because I didn't want to cause a paradox. As for your other question, I suppose you can say I'm a shape shifter of a sort. Just before you met me, I had absorbed a lethal amount of radiation in order to save a very good friend of mine."

"But you didn't die?"

"No. Time Lords… we have this sort of trick. When we're close to death we are able to change our entire being. Become a whole new person. Regenerate. That man back there in the pinstripes and sand shoes… that was me." He smiled slightly and pointed at himself. "That was your raggedy man before all the raggedy!" He chuckled. Amy came to sit beside him.

"What happened to Rose? Did she…" Amy trailed off. She saw how happy his younger self was with her. She didn't want to open any old wounds, but she was concerned about that lovely girl. "Did she die?" The Doctor shook his head.

"Thankfully, no. Well, not to my knowledge anyways. You see, I did lose her during the battle of Canary Wharf. She got trapped in a parallel world. That was due to happen just shortly after you met them just now." He took in a shaky breath, trying to control the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him. Then he smiled. "But she came back to me. Crossed entire universes just to see me again. But then… I had to give her up. To make a long story short: I was shot by a Dalek, began to regenerate, but I was able to siphon off a good portion of that energy into my severed hand." Amy's eyebrows shot up.

"Severed… hand?"

"Another story for another time… anyway I ended up with a clone of myself. But he was half-human and able to offer Rose the life she needed. The life she deserved."

"You love her. Don't you?" Amy asked gently as she drew the Doctor into the hug that he looked like he so desperately needed. He nodded into her shoulder and the tears he was trying to hold back started to flow freely. Amy held him tight and smoothed his hair, offering comforting words in his ear. She hated to see her best friend like this. "I wonder if I'll ever love anyone like that…" Amy mused innocently. The Doctor latched onto her tighter. Amy thought he just had another haunting memory of Rose and felt terrible for bringing it up.

 _Oh Amelia… Rory loved you so much. I wish you could remember…_

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Okay, yes... so I have two stories where Eleven meets Rose. I guess they can either exist as two separate entities or maybe Rose just forgot? I dunno. I think I'll just go with the separate entities one.


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